Resources from Tonight's #BPSedchat

If you missed Night 3 of #BPSedchat (which is AWESOME, thanks to +Ann Brucker) never fear! Billings teachers shared so many amazing resources, and you can see them all here!  Whoop! Whoop! Click below to view our curated collection of tools and resources, thanks to Participate Learning.

Some favorites that were mentioned by several people are: Newsela, Seesaw, Planbook, Class Dojo, Wonderopolis & Pixabay!  Browse through the collection below to view these and more!  And it's never too late to join in the chat - if you're interested email bpstis@billingsschools.org!

iPad Workshop 2/17/16 3:00-5:00pm

Sign up if you're interested!  There is OPI credit available.  Email piltzt@billingsschools.org with any questions.

Participate Learning as a Tool for Finding Digital Resources

I often get asked to recommend a tool or app for a specific skill and grade level.  Unfortunately, I can't be an expert at everything (wah, wah), so thankfully, there is a resource that can be!  Participate Learning is a really great tool that I recommend to teachers who want to search for specific apps or tools.  It allows you to search by grade level and skill and view collections curated by teachers.  Once you become comfortable with Participate, you can even EASILY create your own collections to share with others.  It really is a fantastic resource!

I found this wonderful blog post by Lucy Gray, ed tech expert, which also features some videos about how to use Participate Learning.  I encourage you to check out the site, and Lucy's article!

Christmas Traditions Collaboration

I am Geeking out in the House at McKinley all day, and I got to join in on this awesome activity with Ms. Lambert's 3rd graders and Ms. Ketterling's 1st graders.  They are collaborating by sharing Christmas traditions with one another.  They began by connecting using the site appear.in  This allows the students to see and chat with one another.

They then open a collaborative Google doc that looks like this:

The 1st graders worked whole group with Ms. Ketterling doing the typing.  The 3rd graders logged into their D2 apps and were able to work individually.  You will notice that the 3rd grade spots in the document are numbered - Ms. Lambert assigned each student a number so they know which square to begin typing in.  The 1st graders then asked questions that the 3rd graders could answer.  What a fun way to collaborate, and allow students to share special family traditions that happen in their homes during the holidays!

At the end of the activity, they checked in with each other again using the appear.in tool.  This is a simple, free tool to use.  I like how it allows multiple people to access your "room", so you could collaborate with more than one classroom at one time.

Ms. K & Ms. L thought of this idea last year when Ms. Lambert's room was located in Lincoln Center during construction.  But it was still fun even though they are in the same building. And I love the idea of using this to connect with other classrooms across the district - or even outside of Billings! Thanks for the awesome idea, ladies!

Cyber Monday Sale on Reflector 2!

Anyone who needs to get the update to Reflector, Reflector 2, today is your day! There is a 30% off sale for Cyber Monday.  Click the image below for details.  This makes Reflector 2 $10.49 for a single license, and $44.09 for a 5-pack.

REMEMBER: If you are a PLTW school, the district has purchased a Reflector 2 license for you already!  You should be able to download by accessing Self Service on your computer - let me know if you have trouble, or ask your school tech!

Math Antics - free videos!

During Geek in the House at Bitterroot today, I learned of a cool tool from Mr. White called Math Antics.  This site has a paid subscription fee for exercises and activities, but they offer many fun, engaging videos for free.  Looks like it's geared more toward intermediate and middle school grades, but definitely worth checking out!